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Ice ice baby

Winter has arrived which, you guessed it, means it's bloody cold when you're living on a vessel that sits in freezing cold broads water! But, it's not as bad as it sounds, there are quite a few ways in which you can stay warm & cosy on a boat in the middle of winter.


River Chet in Loddon at dawn

So, when I first purchased the boat (she's gone through a few name changes from Amber Gem 1 to her current name Dei Gratia, is it unlucky to rename a boat?) Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, when I first purchased the boat back in June a lot of the locals at the marina warned me about preparing for the cold, wet and damn right miserable British weather. Here's what I've learned so far.



Heating Systems


A fairly obvious one right? Most boats, I think, come with some sort of heating system. My boat, a Bounty 37, has a night heater/hot air system/I don't know what it's called but I do know that it runs off the diesel, produces hot air and circulates it around the boat through vents. I also know that it sounds like an aircraft about to take off but it lets off an incredible amount of heat and after 20 minutes you'll be wanting to strip off and go for a quick dunk in the Chet!

Night heater

The previous owner recommended running it for a minimum of 30 minutes before turning it off which is long enough to keep you toasty. I'm fairly sure they don't use a lot of diesel to run and are a brilliant way to warm the boat up quickly.


I did, however, run into a bit of a problem one morning when it wouldn't work. The wonderful guys at the marina (I'll write a separate post about community at the marina & how important it is) came and had a look at the system for me & concluded that there was water in the diesel, not good! My diesel was coming out a cloudy orange colour and not a gorgeous cherry red. After a few hours of pumping out the diesel with the offending water in, the system was up and running again.


How does water get in the diesel I hear no one ask? Well, after chatting with the guys at the marina it could be one of two ways. 1. The diesel put into the tank could have had some water in or 2. Condensation (the bane of my life!) Not uncommon at this time of year, as the diesel sits in a steel tank on the boat condensation can build up, especially in cold weather, and therefore ends up in the diesel.


A lesson learnt and a lucky escape as I could have been out on the broads when this decided to happen!


Hot water bottles are your best friend

Buy all of the hot water bottles. Seriously! I have three on board and they are great to have at night when you don't want the loud noise of the night heater. Stick them under the duvet before you head to bed or sit with them under a blanket in the evening. I was also gifted an electric blanket by my lovely neighbour on 'Black Owl' which is another brilliant way to warm up the sheets.


Fan heaters and panel heaters


To keep the chill off the boat I have a couple of panel heaters attached to the walls which are permanently on at the moment. They're cheap to buy and fairly cheap to run as well. I was also gifted a free-standing fan heater which is great if you want to warm up a single room quickly. The only downside of these is that, like kettles, they use a lot of amps which means you need to be careful with what else you're using when it's running.

Panel heaters on a boat

A lot of boat owners install wood burners onto their boats which is a fantastic way to keep the boat warm and damp free. Which brings me onto my next point...


Dampness, moisture, condensation, you get a lot of that on a boat for obvious reasons and during winter is when it's at its peak! Air circulation is key which is why I usually leave a window open in every room and use a Karcher (stolen from my parents, sorry mum & dad) to wipe the condensation off the windows and ceiling most mornings. I also use the little dehumidifier pots and have one in each room to soak the moisture up. Alternatively, get yourself a salt lamp and it will soak up every bit of moisture from the air and leak it all over your shelf, woops!


Welp! That was a long first post but I hope that gives you insight into how I keep warm on the boat. I'm sure I'll need to update this post with more tips and tricks as we head into winter!


At the end of each blog post I thought I'd leave a little music recommendation. A look into what I was listening to whilst rambling! This week it's: My Way by Pvris


Thanks for reading, see you next time where I talk about location.


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